The Amazing Spider-Man: Enigmatic Trek (aka The Amazing Spider-Man 8)
by OptimusPhillip
Summary: OptimusPhillip's Amazing Spider-Man goes out with a metaphorical bang as Spider-Man embarks on a quest to rescue his Aunt May from the clutches of the enigmatic Mysterio, who claims to be an ectoplasmic entity from the netherworld. But with monsters and living robots at his beck and call, can Mysterio be defeated? Rated: T for violence, gore, death, and potentially scary images
1. Chapter 1

Peter and Mary Jane Parker stood at the grave of their deceased friend Harry Osborn, who was buried next to his father, Norman. Peter laid a pansy down on his grave and then they left, but not before Peter got a look at Gwen's grave and Uncle Ben's grave. It really upset Peter that he had more friends inside this graveyard than outside.

That night, Peter couldn't sleep. He couldn't help but think about the last thing Harry said to him. He tried telling him who kidnapped Aunt May, but died before he could finish saying the name. He had nightmares about Aunt May being prisoner to some lunatic who would kill her when he got the chance. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he went out to do some research on Harry's plans.

Little did Peter know about the secret hiding place of two criminal minds, where one of them put on a dark green and purple costume. After putting a dome over his head, he had the suit pumped full of smoke. Immediately afterwards, he set off, purple cape flapping behind his scale-clad body.


	2. Chapter 2

Spider-Man went into the Green Goblin's subway lair in search of something that could help him find Aunt May. He did find something on the Aunt May plan, but almost everything was encrypted.

"Great," he said, "And to think the one class I dropped in high school was cryptanalysis."

While swinging back home, Spider-Man noticed that a robbery was being staged at the mint. When he swung in, however, he found a cloud of smoke surrounding him. He could not see, but he heard the distinct sound of the manganese and brass alloy of which dollar coins are made being loaded into sacks. Spider-Man used his Spider-sense to find his way around the room, but before he could stop one of the crooks, he sensed a fireball being hurled at him. After dodging, he saw the person who threw it at him; a man wearing a scale-covered costume, a cape held on by two blinking eyes affixed to the suit's clavicles, golden gauntlets with intricate art designs on them, and a smoke-filled dome where the head would be on a normal person.

"People of New York," said the man in a powerful, booming voice, "I am Mysterio, an ectoplasmic being from the netherworld. I have come to take over your realm."

"Forget it." said Spider-Man, "Another one like you came around a few years ago with the same goals and an army, easily defeated."

"I am more powerful than any human alive, even the Avengers themselves cannot stop me!" Mysterio sprayed a mist at Spider-Man, which knocks him out, allowing Mysterio and his goons to escape.

Over at Mysterio's secret hideout, Mysterio returned with the coins.

"I have the money, Mason." said Mysterio.

"All 50,000?" said an old man in a lab coat.

"In golden dollars."

"Excellent work, Beck."

"I'm going to ventilate the costume now." Mason put on a gas mask.

"I'm ready." he said. Mysterio pushed a button on his belt, releasing a large cloud of smoke. Once the gas cleared, you could now see that there was a head under the glass semi-sphere. The face was still covered, however, by a black mask with purple glowing parts. Based on the appearance, it looked like it allowed him to breathe despite the smoke and provided some form of ear protection, as well as having some dome cameras in the center of the eye socket. He removed the dome and mask, revealing his true face.

"How go the projects?" said Beck as he removed his gauntlets and cape.

"Well, with the fundings you just brought me," said Mason, "I should be able to accelerate Project: Brain substantially. As for Project: Wraith, that will take more research."

"I will be patient, though I would like it done as quickly as possible. Osborn's death only gives me a small window of opportunity to take over the city."

"I will work as fast as I can."

"Excellent. The sooner the city is mine, the better."


	3. Chapter 3

Spider-Man came to on the floor of the mint. When he looked around, he saw no sign of Mysterio, but could see the looted vaults. Clearly he had been unprepared for Mysterio's power.

_That guy could throw fireballs!_ Spider-Man thought, _I've never seen a power like that._ He looked over at the spot where the fireball hit the wall. The scorch marks were prominent, but he also smelled something. He went over closer to the wall and the smell got stronger. When he finally arrived at the burn spot, he finally recognized the smell; it smelled like a coal fire.

"He didn't magically generate that fireball," said Spider-Man, "he lit up a huge lump of coal."

After that, Peter did some more looking at Harry's encrypted files, doing some research this time, so he could decode it some. After at least an hour he had managed to decode one word: Tinkerer. Peter couldn't place it but the word seemed familiar.

The next day, news reports flooded in about recent kidnappings. Among the missing people were astronaut John Jameson and doctors William Allen and Miles Warren. The only common element between them is that eyewitnesses saw a cloud of smoke when the person disappeared. Not even the sensational Spider-Man could find any leads. However it was obvious that it was the handiwork of the city's new tormentor, Mysterio. But the question remains; what did Mysterio, an all-powerful ectoplasmic being from the nether realm, want with these people?


	4. Chapter 4

Peter went online and entered the word "Tinkerer" into Bing. The top hit was the website for a small business called "Tinkerer Repair Shop." Peter clicked on it and found that the business, run by a man named Phineas Mason, was shut down due to illicit hacking of government computers.

"Of course," said Peter, "Harry probably thought he might need a skilled hacker on his team." He did a bit more research and found that, sure enough, Mason was put in Rikers Island Prison a couple years ago, but had the $100,000 bail paid by an unknown agent.

"It's done, Beck." said Tinkerer at Mysterio's lair, "All we need to do now to complete Project: Brain is to download the virus."

"How do we do that?" said Beck, "this computer is so heavily guarded you need level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. clearance just to get a good look at it."

"Maybe, but the facility in which it is stored is not as heavily guarded. All you have to do is present them with this ID, which identifies you as having access to the building as one of Petty's scientists, walk in there and put down this." Tinkerer held out an eye-shaped device, "This will gain wireless access to the Brain's main processor as long as it's within the building, and we'll use this to download the virus."

"Excellent work, Mason." Beck snatched up the eye and walked off.

That night, a nonchalant man walked into the Petty Labs warehouse using a fake ID. Once inside he put down an object shaped like an all-seeing eye. After that he left.


	5. Chapter 5

Mr. Petty entered his lab warehouse to bring his new robot, model 548464-27246 (nicknamed the Living Brain as it's the smartest robot ever built), to a special demonstration at a local science lab. When he activated it, however, it immediately attacked its creator.

"What are you doing, Brain?" said Mr. Petty. But he did not get a response, for the robot kept attacking him with its whirling arms. Petty was unaware of the fact that the robot was being controlled remotely by the Tinkerer.

"Brain," he said, "that is enough. Come to me." The Brain followed his new master's orders and escaped.

Word spread far and wide about the recent escape of the Living Brain robot from Petty Labs. All they could find that was unusual was an object shaped like an all-seeing eye.

"There are two possibilities," said Peter after hearing about this, "Mysterio or Agamotto." He then went to continue decrypting Harry's files.

He was coming along rather far in decrypting Harry's secret files. He decoded three entries: One which said that he read his father's research and found that Spider-Man was Peter, one which was about Gabriel and Sarah, and one which was the one for which he had gleaned these files for so long, the one which revealed the true kidnapper of Aunt May; Quentin Beck, alias Mysterio.


	6. Chapter 6

Peter was shocked to learn that the city's new tormentor was actually Aunt May's kidnapper. But now that he knew, he continued his research. He couldn't find anything on his whereabouts, but there was something about Mason building him a device that was used ultrasonic waves to manipulate others' minds.

"I see that Project: Brain turned out well." said Beck as he admired the Living Brain, "How goes Project: Wraith?"

"Everything's in place except for a couple of key elements." said Mason.

"And what are those?"

"One of them is a lunar gemstone."

"Where can I find one?"

"That's the issue. I haven't figured out where the only known one is stored."

"What about the other one?"

"That one is quite simple. This particular one can be found at Bellevue Hospital."

"A hospital?"

"Yes. The patient you'll need to find is Malcolm McBride."

The next day, Spider-Man was on patrol when suddenly he heard civilians running and screaming in terror. Spider-Man didn't have to look hard to see why, for a gigantic Mysterio stormed through the city, making his way to Bellevue. Spider-Man followed and saw Mysterio break into a quarantined room, inside a man who exhibited all the signs of decomposition, but was still very much alive. Spider-Man clearly recognized it as an old foe from years back: Malcolm McBride, aka Carrion. Mysterio sprayed a mist into the room but Spider-Man swung in to try and stop him. However, Spider-Man inexplicably just passed right through him. Spider-Man was confused, but remembered that according to Harry's files Mysterio could alter people's minds using his ultrasonic devices. And now that he thought of that, he remembered seeing slight explosions where the giant footprints were.

"You're not fooling me, Mysterio!" said Spider-Man, "I know that this is all an illusion."

"If this is an illusion," said Mysterio, "then how can I do this?" 'Mysterio' snapped his fingers, causing the ledge beneath Spider-Man's feet to fall off.

"Nothing more than a line of det. cord under the ledge."

"Well if I'm just an illusion, how do you explain McBride's disappearance?"

"The real you kidnapped him under the cover of the smoke."

"You are a clever one, Spider-Man, it is a shame I will have to waste you."

"Trust me, you won't."

"Oh, I will. Look behind you." Spider-Man looked behind him and saw the Living Brain approaching him, his new sharp claws making grabbing motions. Spider-Man shot webs at it, but it just cut through. Spider-Man tried to kick it, but the Brain was able to anticipate that and throw him off, the claws leaving marks on his leg. Spider-Man knew that there was no point in this since Mysterio had already fled the scene and the Brain was just a tool to kill him, so he made a hasty retreat, but not before picking up a computer chip that fell off the Brain from some of the physical shock it experienced.


	7. Chapter 7

Peter was quick to figure out a way to use the computer chip to hack into Tinkerer's computer. When he did however, all that happened was a computer code history popped onto the screen.

"Dammit!" he said furiously, "I'm picking up the keystroke and mouse command history and that's it." But he quickly calmed down and figured out another plan, "I'll just follow what he's doing." He looked and quickly translated the computer codes in his head and made it onto Google. He then followed the key and mouse commands as they popped up, searching for 'lunar gemstone'.

"Why is he looking at lunar gems?" said Peter, "He's a tinkerer not a jeweler." He scrolled down through and came across nothing that seemed to interest Mason, for he clicked on nothing. He then opened a program called 'Internet Declassifier', which revealed more hits. After this, Tinkerer finally clicked on something which said 'NASA uncovers mysterious gemstone on Moon.' Peter followed suit and found that their experiments on apes with it showed mutagenic properties when under the light of the full moon, causing the apes to turn into wolf-like beings, prompting the scientists to exterminate the test subjects. He read on and found that it was being kept in a secret MIB vault miles beneath the city. Peter immediately changed into Spider-Man swung out, knowing that Mysterio would be heading to the vault.

Sure enough, Spider-Man's waiting was not in vain, for Mysterio did show up to steal the gem. However, he was likewise prepared, ejecting a hypno-watch from his gauntlet and pointing it at Spider-Man. Suddenly the world seemed to change around Spider-Man until he was back on top of the George Washington Bridge, a green, muscular, flaming monster dropping Gwen from the bridge, with her hitting the water, which afterward started turning red. Then everything changed so he was seeing a young Harry turning into that creature, then he finally saw Venom eating him, then he suddenly woke up in an empty vault room, no sign of Mysterio or the gem. He was a bit disappointed that he couldn't stop him, but he was not entirely fazed.


	8. Chapter 8

When Peter came home, he knew that Mary Jane would've been worried about him and, without a doubt, she had been.

"Where were you last night?" she said.

"Undergoing Mysterio's hypno-torture." said Peter, "He got away."

"Well, what are you going to do now? He's got Aunt May."

"I'm already a step ahead." Peter went onto his computer and opened a GPS program.

"What's that?" said MJ.

"My newest crime-fighting program." said Peter, "I call them Spider-Tracers. Basically GPS chips in spider-shaped cases that I track with this program. I planted one on the gem before Mysterio showed up and now it's telling me that he's hiding in an abandoned special effects shop in Staten Island."

"I have the gem, Mason." said Mysterio as he hauled the large crystal into the shop.

"Excellent work, Beck," said Tinkerer.

"It's a lot larger than I thought."

"Gemstones can come in sizes this large. They're typically just cut down to a smaller size for use in jewelry."

"I see. So now Project: Wraith can enter the final phase?"

"Yes. The Carrion virus is ready to unleash and I will get straight to work cutting the gemstone." Suddenly Mason noticed the spider-shaped object on the gem, "Beck, was there any trouble with Spider-Man?"

"No. I just whipped out the watch and he was out of it."

"Well then why is his calling card on the gem?"

"What?" Mysterio suddenly noticed the spider on it, too. Tinkerer took it off and plugged into his computer.

"It's a tracking device!" said Mason, "You've led him straight here!"

"You see that as a bad thing, but I see it as my opportunity to eliminate the one thing that is standing my way."

Spider-Man swung through the city and found his way to the special effects house. When he arrived, however, Mysterio and Tinkerer were waiting.

"Okay, Mysterio," said Spider-Man, "the jig is up. Release Aunt May or else."

"Actually, Spider-Man," said Mysterio, "I have a proposition for you involving her. Join me and I'll release her, refuse and she dies."

"Why do you need me?"

"For starters, it would eliminate the one thing standing in my way, but also people will truly fear me if I have you on my side, and that fear will make them bow to me."

"Why do you even want the city, anyway?"

"Simple. It'll give me the fame I've always wanted since I was cast as Hugo Weaving's stunt double."  
"Well that's new. But I won't help you in a million millennia."

"Well, then, say goodbye to your aunt." Tinkerer put a video feed of Aunt May on a large screen before priming the electronic guillotine on which her neck lay. But before he could activate it, the computer was shot by a blonde woman in a leather jumpsuit.

"Sarah?" said Spider-Man.

"I saw you swinging through the city." she said, "You seemed worried so I thought I'd follow you."

"_We_ thought _we'd_ follow you." said a man's voice from not far behind.

"What's Gabriel doing here?" said Spider-Man.

"It's okay," said Sarah, "the concussion he got when he hit the water caused him to listen to reason."

"Well, that's a relief. I guess it's a good thing he survived, after all."

"It's three against two, Mysterio," said Gabriel, "you don't stand a chance."

"Correction, lad," said Tinkerer, "it's three against an army." Tinkerer pushed a button, showing two rooms full of people on two different monitors, "As you can see," he zoomed in on one individual in one room, "everyone in this room is wearing one of these pendants made from lunar gemstones. Once I open the roof, letting in the light of the full moon, you really will be dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight." He pushed a button, opening the roof. The only thing illuminating the room was the light of the full moon. Looking back at the monitor, everyone in sight was metamorphosing into a humanoid wolf monster. Mason pushed another button, opening a door releasing the werewolf army. Another button was pressed, spreading a gas into the other room on the monitor, turning everyone in there into a zombie. Again, Mason released the creatures from their room. Another button was pushed, activating an army of Living brain-like robots. From all sides, the three forces converged on our heroes, closing in for the kill. The last thing they very well might hear is Mysterio's maniacal laughter.


	9. Chapter 9 and Author's Note

Spider-Man, Gabriel and Sarah stood helpless as the monstrous creatures surrounding them closed in for the kill. Sarah tried shooting the gems around the werewolves' necks, but, while they did shatter, they stayed on, for they were permanently grafted to their skin.

"What'll we do?" said Sarah. Spider-Man caught sight of a samurai sword on the wall.

"Sarah," he said, "you and Gabriel take the gems off their necks."

"But they're grafted on there." said Gabriel.

"Trust me." Spidey said. They reluctantly did so, and when they reverted to humanoid form there were no neck wounds.

"How did you know that would work?" said Sarah.

"I saw that one of them had a scrape on their face, which disappeared when he turned into one of those Man-Wolf things."

"Clever." said Gabriel.

"Of course it is," said Spider-Man, "now to take care of the Carrions." he shot a web to grab the sword, "I wish I didn't have to do this to you." he said to the zombies before sullenly swinging the sword at their necks. All that is shown on camera is the bodies of a few Carrions falling to the ground (from the neck down). He did the same thing to the other zombies, each swing with more and more sullenness until his mask was damp with tears.

"Now what about the Brains?" said Sarah. Without answering Spider-Man hit a button with a web ball, shutting all the robots down. Tinkerer tried turning it back on, but Spider-Man webbed him up.

"You two stay here incase Mysterio has anymore monsters hidden away." said Spider-Man, "I'll handle Aunt May." And with that, Spider-Man ran towards Aunt May's cell.

When he arrived there, he found Aunt May, still attached to the guillotine.

"Don't worry," said Spider-Man as he tried to get her free, "I'll get you out of here." However, before he could free up her neck, Mysterio showed up.

"Stand down, Spider-Man." said he said as he dropped down his hypno-watch. Spider-Man reluctantly took his hands off the guillotine.

"You've lost, Spider-Man." Mysterio went on, "This could've turned out differently. We could've been a team and I would've spared you and the woman. But you chose the path of a hero. A path which, while I'm on guard, leads to madness." He almost pushed the button, but Spider-Man tackled him, but Mysterio instantly threw him off, "As I was saying, you chose the path to madness." he pushed the button on the watch, but something was wrong: Mysterio was the one who doubled over in pain.

"What's going on?" said Mysterio. Spider-Man did not respond with words, but instead held up a small clump of wire and scaly cloth.

"But how are you unaffected?" Spider-Man took off his mask, revealing not only his secret to his aunt, but also the ear protectors in his ears.

"I also put some more discreet ones in Aunt May's ears." said Peter. Mysterio, however, was most likely not listening, for the sound of the watch was getting louder. tick, tock, tick, tock, each tick causing Mysterio more mental pain until he couldn't take it anymore and put the gun he had stolen from Gabriel (off-screen) to the glass, smoke filled dome. He pulled the trigger and just as the shot cut to Peter and Aunt May the sound of shattered glass, metal and skull rang through the room. Peter was mortified.

"I caused this." he said over Mysterio's dead body bloody face partially exposed, "If I hadn't taken that relay wire he wouldn't have shot himself."

"No one could have anticipated how powerful that frequency could be, Peter." said Aunt May, "It's not your fault."

"Thanks for the consolation, Aunt May. And when we get home I have some explaining to do. A lot of explaining."

"So let me get this straight," said Aunt May, "those wounds you came home with every night when you were a teenager was because you're Spider-Man, and you were keeping it a secret for your loved ones' safety. Then Harry's father was the Green Goblin and died in battle. Then Harry blamed you and tried to kill you. Then he died from an overdose of the Goblin serum."

"Yeah, you've got it right." said Peter, "I still can't believe I lost my best friend to such a stupid misunderstanding. Not to mention everything else he took from me over that."

"Peter, don't dwell on the dark past. Look ahead towards a bright future."

"You always knew exactly what to say and when to say it, Aunt May. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The film ends with Spider-Man swinging through the city at night, the Sun rising behind him. The streets of New York City are truly clean for the first time in years. At long last, for Peter Parker, all was well.

**THE END**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** This is, indeed, the final installment in my main Spider-Man story series. However, this is not quite the end of my Spider-Man related stories. There will be more chapters in Venom 2 and there will be a Venom 3. There is also going to be another story trilogy spun-off from this (I want to surprise you when it comes to what it is about). There is also in my mind's eye a whole bunch of other spin-offs (e.g. Iron Fist, Nightwatch, Black Cat, Cloak and Dagger, etc.), essentially creating a Spider-Man cinematic (technically literary but I'm theorizing cinema) universe, which could also be an expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I may also theorize other major motion pictures of my interest, with my current idea being Transformers: Age of Extinction. I hope you've enjoyed what I've written so far and will enjoy what relative little I'll write in the future, I know I enjoyed writing them. Thank you for reading my stories. DFTBA, guys.


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